Asher is Jonas' best friend. In this chapter, we do not learn much about him but we do know that he seems to be a very disorganized person. I assume this judging by the fact that he talks fast, mixing up words, is often late, and . Personally, I quite enjoy Asher’s characters and look forward to learning more about him as the book goes on. He seems like a really fun character who will have interesting reactions to what Jonas might learn and I would hate for that not to be played around with by the author.I hope he goes through some form of character development as well, and does not remmail as a two-dimensional, unproblematic sidekick. 

Father, also unsurprisingly, is Jonas’ father. His role in the community is to be a nurturer, someone who takes care of the newchildren. In this chapter, Jonas’ father expresses his worries about a newchild who might be released because he is not growing as fast as he should. He announces he will try to get permission to take the child home at night time to take special care of him.

Mother, as you would expect, is Jonas’ mother. She works at the Department of Justice. In this chapter, she voices the frustration and guilt she felt when a man she had already seen before was brought to her. In my opinion, she seems to be a very sympathetic person.

Lily is Jona’s little sister. She is five years younger than her brother, a Seven. This chapter we learn that Lily spends most of her afternoons at the Childcare Center and tends to be quite naive and have small arguments with her brother.

Jonas is the protagonist. In this chapter we learn that soon, he will no longer be eleven years old and take part in something called “The Ceremony of Twelve ''. Jonas spends this chapter dwelling on the right word to describe how he feels about the ceremony. One that would perfectly describe his feelings of eagerness and nervousness. He started the chapter with the word “frightened” in mind and eventually decided on “apprehensive”, as he watches his vocabulary closely. While deciding, Jonas recalls a series of past events, such as the time a plane flew over the community and he had felt frightened. He felt that way because that plane was unlike others he had seen before and it seemed to trigger a feeling of urgency in the voice of the speakers, and silence in the community. 

Some people seem to “lack, somehow, the essential capacity to connect with others”  and therefore cannot be assigned a spouse. They are looked down upon and almost seen as emotionless. This seems very dehumanizing.

Release, something that is usually used as a punishment for mistakes members of the community do. On rare occasions, a newchild is released for not growing well or not behaving like the others. However, release can also be a celebration. That is the case for the release of the elderly which honors a fulfilling life.

A sharing of feelings is a tradition that occurs every night between the people in Family Units. In it, they take trunks sharing the events of the day and how they made them feel. Not sharing your feelings is against the rules.

A: Release, for both newchildren and the old, is a deadly injection in a sad, windowless room followed by an inhumane disposal of a corpse.

A: While the first two questions can not be answered, I would say it is safe to assume the committee is the one deciding whether or not someone can have a child.

A: Birthmothers, a dishonorable assignment, are the ones who have the children in the community. They have three children in three years, never getting to see them, and then work as laborers until they become elders. People are also assigned spouses, having to wait for the perfect match after making their application.